The Bureau of Reclamation will begin a study of the foundation of Wanship Dam on July 16, 2004, to determine its seismic stability as part of Reclamation's on-going Safety of Dams program.
The study will consist of as few as five, or as many as nine exploratory holes drilled in the foundation of the dam to sample the foundation materials and collect ground water data. Each hole will be fitted with a piezometer to monitor the fluctuations of ground water over time. A test trench will be excavated to collect ground water, density data and collect samples for laboratory analysis. The trench will be back filled upon completion of the data collection.
Wanship Dam, a feature of the Weber Basin Project, was built in 1957, and is located 1.5 miles south of Wanship, Utah. It is an earth-fill dam 175 feet high and 2,015 feet long. It has a surface area of 1,007 acres and a total capacity of 62,120 acre-feet.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
